Albany
pop-soul band Mirk had to give up their original name—
but they just roll with the changes

By
W.T. Eckert

“These
dudes were taking it mad seriously and we just tried to
ignore them,” says Josh “Mirk” Mirsky of the Albany band
formerly known as Mirk and the New Familiars. Recently,
he and his band were forced to drop ‘the New Familiars’
from their name due to claims by another band, making
them now, simply, Mirk. “They attacked our Facebook page
and had it taken down, and had our YouTube page shut down
by utilizing this federal trademark they had for the band
name, as well as the cease-and-desist letter that we ignored.”

Mirsky
must be beyond comfortable with change, because they are
moving ahead full-throttle. He says that it would be a
waste of time, resources, and positive energy to fight
for the name. “We’re not interested in having anxiety
associated with what we’re doing. It was all over ‘the
New Familiars,’ and honestly, people only call us ‘Mirk’
anyway.”

Mirsky
also says he no longer goes by his longtime nickname.
“I am Joshua ‘Mirk’ Mirsky. Although people have called
me Mirk for a long time, I am Josh. I even sign all my
emails ‘Josh’ instead of ‘Mirk.’” Mirsky says that he
feels this will help put everyone in the group at ease,
rather than create the feeling that the band have gone
back to being a solo project. “Whenever we discuss things
regarding the band,” he says, “or whenever I introduce
myself, I do so as ‘Josh of Mirk.’”

Music
has long been Mirsky’s first concern. He says that he
had plans for this project long before its conception.
“I was running with a rap group in New York City called
FCM,” he says. “We lived together and recorded together
and just all built off of each other, but it was also
like a power struggle and things never got done. [Mirk]
became me taking control of my own music.”

His
first solo album, Love, was recorded in two halves,
the first in a studio located in Mirsky’s parents’ basement
just off Lark Street in Albany, while he was recuperating
from a trio of abdominal surgeries. Those operations changed
his view on life.

“I
stopped working for the man. My job at the bank had ended.
A lot of my friends that I worked with are still successful
in real estate one way or another. So I could still be
doing that, but I chose to bounce from the industry and
saw it as an opportunity to make music.”

Mirsky
moved his family into a Myrtle Avenue apartment, and it
was there that he completed the second half of the album.

Originally,
Mirsky performed solo with an instrumental CD. But fans
continually suggested that he form a live band, and eventually
he was convinced. Though 2009’s Love is a studio
album that was predominantly composed by Mirsky, he gives
a great sum of credit to Mike Thornton, his longtime friend
and Mirk’s guitarist. “Mike had worked on all those records
that I was performing by myself. Mike was part of putting
the band together.” From the studio to the stage, and
with a few lineup changes, Mirk got what he wanted. After
a performance at the College of Saint Rose’s Harvest Festival,
the band members express nothing but certainty about the
positive changes the group are taking.

“It
usually starts with Josh,” says keyboardist Andy O’Brien.
“And then, early on in the process, people start layering
their parts, and a lot of times there will be certain
ideas that will be very rudimentary and simple. That’s
another thing, keeping a song simple at the very beginning
really provides great structure. Simplicity is always
good in music.”

Thornton,
smoking a cigarette while loading his equipment into the
band’s van, agrees that flexing musical muscle doesn’t
make a great band, and that “muscle is in the songwriting.”

“It’s
about restraint and keeping things very simple,” Thornton
stresses, “because it’s fun to play. And I think that
comes through when we play live. No one in the band is
thinking about their crazy technical part when 90 percent
of the people could hardly give a fuck when they’re not
having fun.”

“What
it boils down to is, we could give you a thousand formulas,
it is just good music,” bassist Kate Sgroi says. “If you
play good music, people are going to keep listening to
it.”

Beyond
that, backup vocalist Tara Merritt specifies, “It’s smart
music. It’s music you can tolerate.” With their new album,
scheduled for release in May, there is a different format.
“It’s just more of a band album, instead of a producer
who is getting a band together to play it,” says Sgroi.
“So, we have the blueprint and it’s building everything
straight up from there. Making it a band, and making it
a band album.”

Steve
Struss joined the band as their third drummer when they
had had already established their live sound. He describes
the direction Mirk are taking with the new album as more
aggressive. “This album is going to be a lot more in your
face then Love, which was more laid-back and lovey-dovey.
This albums gonna be, fuckin’ punch you in the face from
the beginning right to the end. . . . It’s gonna be a
mature version of Love, I think. From what I’ve
heard already, it’s going to trump Love in every
way possible.”

Crowned
in a yellow Buffalo Sabers hat, sax player Chris Russell
packs away his horn while searching for the right words
describing the band’s progress. “Everybody is adding even
more of their personality to the music now. We’re all
writing our own lines for the most part— some of the horn
lines I wrote myself, some of them the band gave input
on.” But aside from the work, Russell says that the sound
is maturing as well, to which Merritt and Sgroi are in
accord.

Mirk’s
performance is full of energy—anyone who sees the band
live after listening to Love would notice the difference
in delivery. But there is also a difference in the way
they compose their music in the studio now, and it has
added to their feeling of growth as a band. Mirsky couldn’t
be happier with the band’s new sound and direction.

“They’re
all so good at what they do that they make it better,”
Mirsky says. “They make what I’m writing better because
they know what it is that I’m trying to write. They are
able to put their own spin on it in a way that just steps
it up. Some people say they like the studio versions better
because they’re more synthesized. But personally, I wish
that I could have made the whole shit sound live from
the beginning.”

Find
out more about Mirk at their new website, mirkmusic.com.

ROUGH
MIX

Rough
Mix

OUT OF THE WOODS This
was hinted at in last week’s Rough Mix, and now
we have the official word: Sean Rowe has
signed to might-as-well-be-a-major label ANTI-
Records. The California-based label has set Feb.
22 as the release date for the reissue of Rowe’s
2009 Collar City Records disc Magic. This
is huge news for the Capital Region troubadour:
He’s joining a talent roster that already includes
Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Joe Henry, Mavis Staples,
Billy Bragg, the Frames. . . . I could go on.
Rowe will be touring through most of 2011 in support
of Magic, which unfortunately means there
won’t be any new music from him for a little
while—but in light of such an announcement, we
can cut the guy a little slack.

GO
GET IT Somebody out there knows how we handle
deadlines. Wednesday morning brought a matter-of-fact
e-mail from local musician and promoter Andrew
Sullivan, announcing a new band and album from
Brent Gorton, followed by the phrase “free
download.” And we’re passing the savings on to
you, dear reader: Go to brentgorton.com/ betterpills.html
to grab I Hope You Feel Better in Heaven,
the debut EP from Better Pills. Gorton
is joined in the new project by Dead Friend members
Sullivan and Phil Pascuzzo, with the singer dropping
his native guitar in favor of a cranky-sounding
synthesizer, giving the six minimalist indie-rock
tunes an extra layer of good-creepy. And, again,
it’s free.

GOSPEL
GUMBO Producer and musician Jack Maeby
left Albany 25 years ago to pursue his career
in New York City and, now, Los Angeles. But he’s
returning to the Capital Region this weekend to
celebrate the release of Spirituals, the
new record by his latest band, Little Faith.
The project seeks to connect the African-American
spirituals of the 1800s with 20th-century “Americana”
sounds like bluegrass and New Orleans R&B.
A host of excellent musicians played on the album,
but Maeby’s top-flight organ playing is at the
center of it all. Over the years Maeby has played
alongside and/or produced everyone from Carly
Simon to the late, great Solomon Burke; he’ll
lead Little Faith into the Bayou Cafe in Albany
on Saturday. More info at jackmaeby.com.

NOT
FORGOTTEN Country-blues and folk musician
Tom Winslow passed away in late October
of complications from a stroke, it was reported
last week. Winslow moved to upstate New York in
the early ’60s and became a member of Pete Seeger’s
band, as well as the crew of Seeger’s boat, the
Clearwater. (He recorded the song “Hey Looka Yonder
(It’s the Clearwater)” for his 1969 solo debut
album.) In recent years he could be seen performing
regularly at the Troy Farmers Market in addition
to his yearly engagements at Caffe Lena. His voice
and presence will be missed.

BLAH
BLAH Ralph Renna has been one busy man as
of late. He just unveiled a major concert series
under his Capital Underground Live banner, and
now he’s announced a new album from his band,
Black John Wayne. Serenade of the Black
and Blues, recorded at Albany’s North Sea
Studios with producer Brett Portzer, is
due in early 2011. It’s the first full-length
featuring 13 songs from this group of Troycore
vets, and that recognizable sound is present—but,
says Renna, they’re “not afraid to break the mold
they all helped shape in the 1990s.” Hear for
yourself when the band play Northern Lights on
Nov. 27.

—John
Brodeur

Let
us know about local-music news and happenings
for inclusion in Rough Mix: E-mail tips and information
to tigerpop1@yahoo.com or metroland@metroland.net.